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Conyers requests Obama help stop Detroit water shutoffs

John Conyers

In this July 30, 2013 file photo, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. On Tuesday, April 29, 2014, Conyers opponent in the Democratic primary opponent in the 13th District congressional race Rev. Horace Sheffield III challenged Conyers’ nominating petitions for the Aug. 5 Democratic primary. That followed a WDIV-TV report that two of the petition circulators were not registered to vote at the time that they gathered the signatures. If the petitions are disqualified and Conyers falls short of the 1,000 valid signatures needed, his name would not appear on the ballot. Conyers first was elected to Congress in 1964.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Conyers, according to a release, sent letters Friday to Obama, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Director and Chief Executive Office of the Detroit Water and Sewage Department Sue McCormick requesting "immediate federal action and local relief for the water crisis impacting thousands of Detroiters."

In the three-page letter to Obama, the Democrat asks the commander-in-chief to designate some of the $200 million still available for Michigan from the Hardest Hit Fund - a reserve made available for relief from impacts of the Great Recession.

"In the 21st Century - in the wealthiest nation on earth - no one should ever go without safe, clean water," Conyers said in a statement. "These steps are just the beginning, as we work determinedly to ensure that this crisis is resolved and never repeated."

Conyers also called on Burwell to formally designate the water crisis a public health emergency eligible for direct federal relief.